Once enrolled in the M.A. or Ph.D. program, the Department of Communication and the University of Washington awards, on a competitive basis, grants for travel, dissertation research, and related expenses. Application deadlines are listed at right.

Janice and William Ames Endowment

The Janice and William Ames Endowment provides department support for graduate student research. It was established by alumni to honor a longtime School of Communications professor (William Ames) and the Department of Communication’s Visiting Committee chair (Janice Ames). According to terms of the endowment, priority will be given to research focusing on difference/diversity.

Peter Clarke and Susan Evans Graduate Research Fund

Establishment of this Fund acknowledges that a broad range of scholarship about human communication is both informing and useful. The Peter Clarke and Susan Evans Graduate Research Fund focuses its support more narrowly, however, on graduate student research that promises to yield societal benefits. The Fund intends to encourage graduate students preparing for careers in the improvement of conditions of life experienced by people burdened by a disadvantage, such as low income or a condition that is stereotyped negatively. The Peter Clarke and Susan Evans Graduate Research Fund lays the foundation for continued funding of such research opportunities, creating a new tool that will attract top graduate students. Read more about the fund >>

General funding pool

There is also a general funding pool offered by the department, the Communication Graduate Student Research Fund, that supports graduate student research broadly, covering any topic and every type from exploratory projects to theses and dissertations.

Other Resources

The Graduate School offers a limited number of fellowships to doctoral candidates, and the Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS) offers a limited number of Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to graduate and professional students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and who meet designated requirements. In addition, the University of Washington’s Office of Student Financial Aid has a variety of need-based funding available to prospective and current students.

Graduate Student Travel Policy

Selection Criteria

The Department of Communication has access to some funds to support graduate student travel to scholarly conferences for presenting papers. Graduate students interested in requesting financial assistance with their travel can submit a formal request to the Department for these funds. The Department chair and Graduate Studies Committee evaluate these requests to determine which may receive funding. In all cases, the following criteria are employed:

To be eligible, applicants must meet the following criteria:

Note that funding is primarily to help graduate students who are presenting research papers at leading communication academic conferences. Priority thus goes (in descending order) to (1) general communication academic conferences (e.g., International Communication Association, National Communication Association, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication), for which $500 is provided for a student with a research paper; then (2) significant subject area conferences in communication (e.g., American Journalism Historians Association, Rhetoric Society of America, Association for Internet Researchers, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, and the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research), for which $350 is provided for a student with a research paper; then (3) regional communication conferences (e.g., Western States Communication Association, Northwest Communication Association), for which $300 is provided for a student with a research paper; and finally (4) conferences that are not directly related to communication (e.g. Cultural Studies International; American Sociological Association; American Studies Association), for which $200 is provided for a student with a research paper.

“Recycled” papers (i.e., papers that already have been presented at a conference) are usually not allowed to be presented again and, in any case, will not be funded.

Our goal is to provide substantial funding for at least one leading academic conference a year for every graduate student who is the solo or lead author on a research paper. If you plan to attend several conferences during any one year, you will need to designate which conference is your top priority. If there are multiple authors for a paper, we can likely fund only one person for the conference, so you will need to decide who applies for funds.

If you have had funding previously, we will want to know what you have done to move your earlier paper toward publication. For those with earlier funding, we will give higher priority to those who have published (or submitted for publication) earlier work.

Given limited resources, the Department inevitably needs to prioritize travel funding for students. Within the parameters noted above, we will provide travel funding for up to two years for MA students; up to four years for Ph.D. students; and up to five years for MA/PhD students. Travel funding for students who exceed their expected time in the program will be considered only when students remain productive and when funds are available. A student can receive a maximum of $750 in travel funding annually from the Department per fiscal year (July 1 to June 30).

Request Procedure

Gather the following materials to support your travel request: a copy of the full paper and the letter/email accepting your paper for presentation.

Download and complete the Travel Request Form. Fill out this form as completely as possible. Create a single PDF in the following order – request form, acceptance, paper – and email it to the Graduate Program Advisor at cmuadv@uw.edu.

Once your request is sent, the Graduate Program Coordinator and/or the full Graduate Studies Committee will review the request and make a recommendation to the Chair of the Department, who makes all final decisions on travel.

Wait patiently for notification. A couple of weeks after submitting your travel request, you should hear from the Department Administrator as to whether your travel request has been approved and, if so, for how much.

If approved, you will need to work closely with the Department Administrator and other staff to plan the best way to use your travel award. The Department usually cannot support airfare AND lodging, food, registration, etc., as these expenses can be substantial.